Matzo Ball Soup!

Today is my friend Denise’s birthday. She couldn’t be more like a big sister to me. And Denise is the one who first introduced me to matzo ball soup (her fave), so today’s post is my way of sending a big “Happy Birthday” hug across the miles.

In a previous post, I’ve mentioned the blog Meet the Shannons: it’s written by the couple who are veganizing the entire Betty Crocker cookbook.  If you haven’t yet checked out the blog, I highly recommend you do — the picture of the Princess Leia and Han Solo figurines alone makes it worth a peek. Among the many recipes, Annie and Dan Shannon offer this Matzo Ball Soup recipe, and it’s a keeper. As they say, it’s got chutzpah.

ingredients:

• 1 cup matzo meal
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon Braggs
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 package firm silken tofu
• 1/2 large red onion
• 9 cups vegetable broth ( we used low sodium by Imagine, which also makes a No-Chicken broth)
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 carrots (sliced like coins)
• 1/4 teasopoon celery seed
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped
• 2 pinches onion powder

directions:

1. Blend tofu, 1 tablespoon vegetable broth, and oil in a food processor. In a bowl, mix matzo meal, nutritional yeast, Braggs, and pepper.
2. Combine the two mixes in the bowl, until everything is moist.
3. Cover the bowl and put in the fridge overnight.
4. Next day: About an hour and a half before you want your soup , fill a pot with the remaining vegetable broth, white wine, carrots, celery seed, parsley, dill, and onion powder. bring to a boil.
5. Put some parchemnt paper in a casserole dish. remove matzo mix from the fridge. Form very tightly packed balls, about the size of a melon ball, and place them on the parchment paper so that they don’t touch.
6. Drop the balls, one at a time, into the boiling broth. The cover the pot and leave it on for about a half hour. (No lifting the lid to check up on them!)

Annie Shannon says: “After that half hour, lift the lid and watch your Matzo balls rise to the top.”

Happy Birthday, Denise!

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